Season 6, Episode 3
Written by Jane Espenson
Directed by David Solomon
Original Airdate: 8 October 2001
"It's hard to get a good night's death around
here."
Spike
REGULAR CAST
GUEST CAST
CO-STARRING
SYNOPSIS
-
The Scooby Gang rush to find Buffy and figure she
is at her house. The bikers are on the run now that Razor has been
destroyed. At the house, Buffy is confused and acting weird as she
surveys they changed scenery of her house and is told by Dawn that Giles
has left. Spike arrives, angry and looking for Dawn, and then when
realizing the real Buffy is back he softens and helps clean up her
wounded hands. They talk about how long she's been gone, then as the
Scooby Gang arrives and focuses on the Slayer, Spike slips out.
Unable to stand all the concern, Buffy goes upstairs while Xander and
Anya leave for food. Outside, the two find a hurt Spike who's mad that
he wasn't told despite helping the gang all summer. He releases that his
closeness with Buffy would make him an obstacle in the case that Buffy
returned as something that would have to be destroyed. He warns Xander
of the consequences they'll have to face because they always exist with
magic.
After notifying Giles of Buffy's return, Willow and Tara go to bed and
talk about the spell and changes in Buffy. In her room, Buffy looks at
the pictures surrounding her and they briefly turn to pictures of
skulls. Willow and Tara receive a visit from Buffy in their room as she
yells at them and hints at what Willow did to the baby deer. When the
girls get up to investigate, Buffy's asleep in her room and neither know
the source of the incident. A moving lump appears in the ceiling which
motivates Willow to call Xander. In the background while Xander talks,
Anya enters the room with a knife and smoky eyes, slitting her cheek
before collapsing as the lump travels across the floor.
The gang gather the next day for brainstorming, but no one is sure what
this thing is and Buffy is still very closed off. At the Magic Box,
Buffy still seems out of place and leaves for patrol alone. With Buffy
gone, the demon has taken over Dawn who shouts at her friends and
breathes fire before collapsing. Buffy finds Spike at his crypt and the
two talk, rather awkwardly at first. Spike opens up to her, expressing
his guilt for not saving her or Dawn. He explains that every night
afterwards, he thought up better ways to rescue her and he wishes so
much to have been able to do it for real.
Led on by Spike's hinting that Willow knew her spell might do something
bad, Xander questions whether either of the witches knew the dangers but
is quickly quieted. Willow reveals that this creature was created by the
spell but the demon is formless without possessing a body and it is tied
to Buffy. If it is killed, the spell is cancelled. After Dawn freaks out
about that particular concept - of losing Buffy, again - Willow
discovers that it is only temporary and the demon can only survive if
Buffy is killed. The demon, which had been housed in Xander's body while
Willow shared information, heads for the Slayer.
Buffy is attacked by the formless demon which she can't hurt, but she
can be hurt by it. Willow and Tara cast a spell to make the demon solid.
Buffy kills the demon with an axe. Normalcy is somewhat resumed as Dawn
heads to school the next day and Buffy sees her off. Buffy visits her
friends at the shop and confesses to them that she was in Hell and she
appreciates that they brought her back.
Later, out at the back of the shop, Buffy goes to be alone and finds
Spike hiding in a patch of shade. He tries to talk to her and offers to
help her if there is any way he can. She admits to him that although she
wasn't sure, she wasn't in Hell... she thinks she was in Heaven and her
friends took her away from that. Spike gapes as she tells him the
reality she's a part of now is her Hell, and stresses that her friends
can never know the truth.
TRIVIA
CONTINUITY
-
Spike warns that magic has consequences.
This is season six's central theme.
-
Spike comments that he recalls digging
himself out of his grave, which we never see in
Lies My Parents Told Me. But since
in
Reunion, Drusilla is seen to be a traditionalist, we can assume that
she buried him anyway.
-
Spike has kept the motorcycle that he
stole from the hellions in the previous episode.
GOOFS
-
How did Spike get behind the Magic Box in
such strong sunlight? There doesn't seem to be a sewer entrance nearby,
and he says himself that he can't move from that spot. He must have been
there since night.
-
Willow says she's spoken to Giles in
London. As he only left earlier that day there's no way he could have
made it all the way to England in that amount of time. It takes about 11
hours to fly from L.A. to London.
Bargaining
(Part 1) |
Bargaining (Part 2) | Afterlife |
Flooded |
Life
Serial
All the
Way |
Once More, With Feeling |
Tabula Rasa |
Smashed |
Wrecked |
Gone
Doublemeat
Palace |
Dead Things |
Older and Far Away |
As You Were |
Hell's Bells |
Normal Again
Entropy |
Seeing Red |
Villains |
Two to Go |
Grave
|